UPS Airlines Flight 6
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UPS Airlines Flight 6 was a scheduled international cargo flight operated by UPS. On September 3, 2010, the
Boeing 747-400F The Boeing 747-400 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, an advanced variant of the initial Boeing 747. The ''Advanced Series 300'' was announced at the September 1984 Farnborough Airshow, target ...
flying the route between
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
, United Arab Emirates, and
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany, developed an
in-flight fire In aviation, an in-flight fire is a type of aviation accident where an aircraft catches on fire in-flight. They are considered one of the most dangerous hazards in aviation, with a report from the British Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom) ...
, which caused the aircraft to crash, killing both crew members, the only people on board. It was the first fatal air crash for UPS Airlines. The accident prompted a re-evaluation of safety procedures protecting airliners from cockpit smoke.


Background

After arriving from
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
earlier in the day, Flight 6 departed from
Dubai International Airport Dubai International Airport () is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic as of 2024. It is also the busiest airport in the Middle East as ...
at 18:53 local time (14:53 UTC) on September 3, 2010, bound for
Cologne Bonn Airport Cologne Bonn Airport () is an international airport in north-western Germany. It serves the country's fourth-largest city Cologne, as well as Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. With approximately 12.4 million passengers passing through i ...
in Germany. The designated crew were
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Douglas Lampe (48), of
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, and First Officer Matthew Bell (38), from
Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical ...
. Lampe had been flying for UPS Airlines for 15 years and had over 11,000 flight hours, with 4,000 hours flying in the Boeing 747-400. Bell had 4 years and 5,500 hours respectively, with 77 hours in the 747-400.


Accident

At 19:15, the EICAS message FIRE MAIN DK FWD appeared on the upper EICAS display, and the crew reported fire in the cockpit when the aircraft was around west-northwest of Dubai. An emergency was declared shortly afterward. The pilots were under the control of
Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
's
air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...
(ATC), and they could not initially contact
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
ATC because of thick smoke entering the flight deck that obscured the radio panel. Although they were offered a diversion to
Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
, Qatar, Captain Lampe decided to return to Dubai. The thick smoke required the pilots to communicate with nearby planes over VHF to relay messages to Bahrain ATC, as Bell was unable to see the radio through the smoke. The aircraft involved in relaying messages from UPS 6 included three
Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...
s operated by
Flydubai Dubai Aviation Corporation (), doing business as flydubai (), is an Emirati government-owned airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The airline mainly operates out of Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport, though some flights fly out ...
, and the Dubai Royal Air Wing's own 747-400, callsign ''Dubai One''. Lampe disengaged the
autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...
to fly the plane manually. Upon doing so, he discovered that he had no
elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...
control. The fire had burned through the protective fire-resistant liner that covered the cargo hold and destroyed the primary flight control system, crippling the 747. At 19:20, Lampe's oxygen mask failed and he relinquished command of the plane to First Officer Bell. Captain Lampe subsequently left his seat to retrieve the emergency reserve oxygen system (EROS) oxygen mask, which was stowed behind his seat. However, he lost consciousness soon after as a result of hypoxia after inhaling the acrid smoke, and he collapsed on the floor of the flight deck. The fire was thought to have also disrupted the oxygen supply to the EROS mask, leaving Lampe with no oxygen to return to the pilot seat and fly the plane. Bell was instructed to land on the airport's runway 12L. The aircraft was too high on the approach and the gear did not extend. The aircraft passed over the airport before making a tight turn. Bell attempted to turn toward
Sharjah International Airport Sharjah International Airport () is an international airport located east-southeast of Sharjah (city), Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It is spread over an area of . It is the 3rd busiest airport in UAE, the country as well as List of the busie ...
, but mistakenly turned in the wrong direction (195° instead of 095°). Radar contact was lost shortly thereafter at 19:42 UTC. The aircraft finally struck the ground at a shallow angle and at high speed in an unpopulated area between the Emirates Road and Al Ain Highway, barely missing Dubai Silicon Oasis. The right wing hit the ground first and the burning 747 skidded a few meters, exploding in a fireball, killing both Bell and the unconscious Lampe instantly. Many of the initial reports were issued by
Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...
pilots living in the area.


Aircraft

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 747-44AF which was registered as N571UP with
serial number A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letters ...
35668. It was manufactured by
Boeing Commercial Airplanes Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is a division of the Boeing Company. It designs, assembles, markets, and sells commercial aircraft, including the 737, 767, 777, and 787, along with freighter and business jet variants of most. The divis ...
in 2007 and it received its airworthiness certification on September 26. It had flown for more than 10,000 hours, and had a major inspection performed in June 2010. The aircraft was powered by four General Electric CF6-80C2-B5FG01 turbofan engines, and was among the newest (#1,393 of 1,418; the 26th from the last) Boeing 747-400s built before the introduction of the succeeding 747-8.


Investigation

The United Arab Emirates General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) opened an investigation into the crash, assisted by the
NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inc ...
. The Bahraini government conducted its own investigation. UPS also sent its own investigation team. The
flight data recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...
and
cockpit voice recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...
were recovered and sent to the United States for analysis by the NTSB. The GCAA released its final investigation report in July 2013. The report indicated that the fire was caused by the autoignition of the contents of a cargo pallet that contained more than 81,000
lithium batteries Lithium battery may refer to: * Lithium metal battery, a non-rechargeable battery with lithium as an anode ** Lithium–air battery ** Lithium–iron disulfide battery ** Lithium–sulfur battery ** Nickel–lithium battery ** Rechargeable l ...
and other combustible materials. The shutdown of air conditioning pack 1 for unknown reasons allowed smoke to enter the cockpit. The investigation also revealed that the cargo liner failed when the fire started, and this contributed to the severity of the damage.


Aftermath

In October 2010, the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
(FAA) issued a safety alert for operators highlighting the fact that the cargo on board Flight 6 contained a large quantity of lithium-type batteries. The FAA issued a restriction on the carrying of lithium batteries in bulk on passenger flights. Boeing announced that the 747-400F fire checklists were to be modified to instruct pilots that at least one of the three air conditioning systems must be left in operation to prevent excessive smoke accumulation on the flight deck. The accident revived concerns about the effects of smoke in the cockpit, raising the question of whether smoke hoods or inflatable vision units should be introduced in commercial aviation. Around the time of the crash, the US
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
(NTSB) had asked the FAA to mandate the installation of automatic fire extinguisher systems in the holds of cargo aircraft. UPS Airlines followed FAA regulations, which stated that pilots should depressurize the main cabin and climb to an altitude of at least upon detection of a fire so as to deprive the flames of oxygen.
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...
(AQAP) has claimed responsibility for the crash in addition to the 2010 transatlantic aircraft bomb plot. However, U.S. and United Arab Emirates investigators had said they had not found any evidence of an explosion or terrorist involvement in that incident, and were skeptical about the claim. They suggested it was probably an attempt by AQAP to bolster its image. On September 10, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the AQAP was not involved in the crash.


In popular culture

The crash was featured on season 15 of the Canadian documentary series ''Mayday'' in an episode titled "Fatal Delivery".


References


External links

* General Civil Aviation Authority *
Final report
() *
Interim Report
() ** Preliminary Report () *
"GCAA : No evidence of an onboard explosion related to Al Qaeda claims on the Crash of UPS Boeing 747 – 400 Cargo"
. November 7, 2010. *
"GCAA eliminates the possibility of an onboard explosion regarding the crash of UPS Boeing 747 – 400 Cargo investigation"
. October 31, 2010.
Alt
) *
"GCAA reveals more details regarding the crash of UPS Boeing 747 – 400 Cargo investigation"
October 20, 2010 *
"GCAA reveals more details regarding the Crash of UPS Boeing 747 – 400 Cargo investigation"
– September 23, 2010 *
"GCAA Announces the recovery of Digital Flight Data Recorder From UPS6 Boeing 747 – 400"
– September 13, 2010. *
"GCAA Announces the Preliminary Report on the ACCIDENT INVOLVING UPS6 Boeing 747 – 400 on 3rd September, 2010"
." – September 5, 2010
"B744 Freighter crash after onboard fire indication, Dubai, 3 Sep 10 – Preliminary Report Issued"
SKYbrary SKYbrary is a wiki created by the EUROCONTROL, European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization, and the Flight Safety Foundation to create a comprehensive source of aviation safety information ...

"Statement on Aircraft Accident"
. () –
United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializi ...

Investigation docket
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ups Airlines Flight 6 2010 in the United Arab Emirates 2010s in Dubai Aviation accidents and incidents in 2010 Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Arab Emirates Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 747 Accidents and incidents involving cargo aircraft Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight fires 6 September 2010 in Asia Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot incapacitation 2010 disasters in the United Arab Emirates Transport in Dubai